3cyl 50hp to 60hp upgrade?

[ohbubbabob]

I have a 1987 3 cylinder 50 hp Mercury outboard. An old mechanic told me this motor is a detuned 60hp. He said if I changed the carbs, manifold and baffle plate with the 60hp parts, I would then have a 60hp motor.
Is this true? Thanks, Bob

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 3cyl 50hp to 60hp upgrade?

Get out your wallet and try it! You may find the parts cost to accomplish the switch (unless you find a donor engine) will be way more than 10 HP is worth. This question gets asked all the time and the answer is always the same. You can go to the mercury parts express web site, enter your serial number and then compare every 50 & 60 HP part number. Those that are different will need to be changed. Don't overlook pistons, blocks (porting may be different), exhaust tuners, carbs and or jetting, timing, etc.

 

[ohbubbabob]

Re: 3cyl 50hp to 60hp upgrade?

Back to my orig question. A Mercury mechanic told me it was a matter
of switching carbs, manifold, and exhaust baffle. Is this true?
I find that part numbers will be different on identical parts, for different motors (still being the exact same part).
If the block and porting are different, there is no way I could justify swap.
Looking at remanufactured / rebuilt motors, all 50 and 60 hp 3cyl
carry the same part number. this would indicate an Identical block (and porting) Anyone know for sure???

 

[mixerjv]

Re: 3cyl 50hp to 60hp upgrade?

"I find that part numbers will be different on identical parts, for different motors"

Mercury doesn't do that, however, they do update part design & numbers from time to time and two different parts lists could have different part numbers (due to different printing dates) but are superceded by a common number.

From what I know (I have a '86 60hp and a '81 70hp (same engine, merc went from cranshaft hp to propshaft hp in '85)) your mechanic is right.

These engines are relatively common on ebay and you may consider grabing a '60 (or earlier '70) as a parts motor like silvertip suggests not only for the upgrade but for other parts you may need in the future, every month more and more parts for these engines go NLA.

 

[ohbubbabob]

Re: 3cyl 50hp to 60hp upgrade?

Thanks for the info. I did buy a 60hp off EBay. I'll start digging through the part numbers. If it doesnt work, at least I'll gain power tilt and trim from donor.